Tiny Sidecar: A Coffee Podcast
Tiny Sidecar is a women-focused coffee podcast celebrating the voices, stories, and passions of the coffee world. From farmers to roasters to baristas and beyond, each episode takes you on a playful, empowering ride through the industry’s vibrant community. Hosted by Cait Rifkin, Tiny Sidecar shares candid conversations, inspiring journeys, and the occasional sidecar detour. Hop in, we’re brewing something amazing.
Tiny Sidecar: A Coffee Podcast
Sidecar Sessions: Kristaleen, Stone Creek Coffee
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In this episode, I sit down with Kristaleen, a barista and educator at Stone Creek Coffee in Milwaukee. We talk about what it means to grow in the coffee industry, the power of approachable education, and the kind of intentional culture that makes a company like Stone Creek stand out. It’s a laid-back, thoughtful conversation that's sure to make you look at your next cafe drink a little differently.
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Hi, hello and howdy, and welcome back to Tiny Sidecar, the podcast where we ride shotgun with the women shaping the coffee world one story at a time. Today we're pulling up to a pretty special stop: Stone Creek Coffee. Tucked inside a historic Cream City brick factory right in the heart of downtown Milwaukee. This place oozes charm. Think exposed beams, giant windows, and the kind of moody energy that only comes along when a roastery meets a cafe and they've been doing it well for a long time. Today's episode is a special one as we sit down with Crystaline, who works for Stone Creek Coffee as a barista educator, and honestly, she's an all-around gem of a person. I was lucky enough to sit down with her for about a half hour after the factory tour, and we chatted all things coffee from her beginnings to family and some of the things that she's most excited about in the coffee industry. So, buckle on up, let's get into it. Now I think I've mentioned this before, but Stone Creek Coffee has such a special place in my heart because the Downer Cafe is a place that I used to go with my yoga buddies, my best friends. It was one of the last places that I stopped before moving to Wyoming. It just has such good energy, such a beautiful patio, delicious waffles, and delicious drinks. So going and seeing the factory, which I hadn't been before, and doing a roastery tour was something that was definitely on my Wisconsin bucket list this time around, and I was lucky enough to go with my parents. Now my dad is definitely a coffee snob. Hey, I don't know that he would like that term, but he likes good coffee and he likes knowing the story, he knows likes where the producers come from. My mom definitely also likes good coffee, but she's less of a hobbyist than my dad might be. And having them see this side of my world, even though it was just through someone else's lens, was really cool. The factory location is nestled in the heart of downtown Milwaukee, just outside of the historic third ward, and is this beautiful building that just grabs your attention right away. What's nice about the factory location is the second you walk in, you're walking into a large cafe space that has plenty of room for working, some dark wood. Uh, it definitely has a vibe to it, even on the sunniest day. It has a full barista uh cafe staff and they have pastries, all the goods, lots of amazing, beautiful merch. They work with local artists and they do a fabulous job on all of their packaging. Really, like their story behind packaging and labels is so cool. That's definitely for another time. But check out their stuff because they definitely uh really take pride in using local artists and just keeping it creative, keeping it fresh. So the tour started out with going up to a conference room, and I think there was like maybe 15 other people. Again, very affordable, really fun activity if you're a coffee person and just want to see what a downtown location might look like. Um, but we got taken up into a conference room and had some coffee, had some bakery treats, and really started to understand a bit more about not only the other people in the room, but also Stone Creek. I think one of my favorite questions from the whole time was how they came up with the name Stone Creek. And if I'm remembering correctly, the owner had a childhood creek that he would play in that he called Stone Creek, and when coming up with the company name, he wanted to do that nod to his childhood. Something I hadn't heard before, and it's really such a sweet little memory that he's brought to the feel of the coffee company. Kristaline ran through all sorts of goodies, like what coffee trees look like, what cherries are like, the different processes. So a lot of 101 coffee knowledge, but also that Stone Creek's a B Corporation and how proud they are of that. Shout outs to team members, what their structure of their team looks like, the fact that they have an in-house bakery, that they make all of their own syrups and pastries, and that team members can give feedback about what they want to see and even customers, and that they'll try to make these delicious creations for all the people that enjoy Stone Creek. After we spent some time together in the conference room, we got to put on aprons and hairnuts and walk around the factory and see all of the ins and outs of what that building looks like. The first place that we stopped was where they make the incredible waffles. We stood outside these beautiful glass windows that you could look inside the bakery and see people working. And that's when we started talking about how special it is that they make fresh bakery goods every single day and how those delicious foods are being spread across Milwaukee at their different locations. Now, if I've said it once, I've said it a hundred times, but their waffles are so dang good. I will live on this hill for the rest of my life. From the bakery, we headed downstairs and we got to see where they kept all their green coffee. Now, I think you all know this about me, but I work at a roasting co for my full-time year-round job, let's call it. And the way that we store green coffee versus the way that Stone Creek stores green coffee is wildly different. We're talking a historic Milwaukee building, right? And so we go down to the basement where there's probably like a hundred, if not more, pallets of green coffee just waiting to be used, and the ceilings are low, there's pipes. It's such an experience because you almost feel like you're going back in time in this secret little spot, but something also so familiar in all of these green coffee bags. It was really cool. And watching how they unload the pallets to reload the pallets to then take them up to the roasting room. Also, I don't envy that situation. You know, if you're a roaster, you're a strong person. But Stone Creek is definitely some strong people. So we got to see that. We got to see the tech corner. I think coffee techs are just like a different breed of person. Everything that they can do with fidgeting around to make machines work again or salvaging parts is so cool. I'm always really impressed with the tech world. It is definitely not how my brain works. Finally went to the main attraction, which was the roasting room. Now, the setup that Stone Creek has is really quite simple, quite straightforward. They have a large roaster and production in the same room, and then a lot of their coffee is either shipped or delivered. Um, very straightforward, but again, always fun to see how everyone has their roasting companies set up and how they function. Now, outside of the roasting room, there was also a lab and an education room where they taught public classes on how to brew espresso, how to brew like on a V60, uh, just coffee education classes that you could book out for private sessions, which I think is such a nice treat for the Milwaukee community because it seems very accessible. Can sign up with one of their educators and get taken care of. From this experience, I think Stone Creek really cares about where their coffee comes from, what producers they work with, definitely honoring those producers, keeping things fresh, but their slogan is never stop learning. And you can obviously see that by the excitement in their staff. I also would say that just my impression of the company, it seems like they treat their staff really well in the sense of people were excited to be there and talk about Stone Creek. Crystaline was happy to sit down with me and chat more about her career there and also just coffee world. And I love to see that. I love to see a coffee company not only pushing boundaries with producers, but also um really creating new paths for how to be a good coffee professional and have benefits and be taken care of. And it's just exciting to see more and more roasting companies doing this and really putting an emphasis on humans on every single level because coffee has so much human involvement, you know, throughout the whole chain. And so um seeing that on all fronts at Stone Creek was something that I was really excited about, and this all kind of led into me sitting down with Crystaline and talking to her for about 30 minutes, and I have a good portion of that for you now. So, first and foremost, huge shout out to Stone Creek for having me, for giving me such an amazing tour. I couldn't recommend it more if you're a coffee person and just want to learn a little bit more, and also to Crystaline for sitting down and sharing her story with me. She, like I said, is an absolute gem of a person, and I'm really excited to share the next few minutes with you.
SPEAKER_01My name is Crystaline Hernandez. I've been in the coffee industry for about two years. I work at Stone Creek Coffee as a barista and a barista educator. Public classes, I train our baristas, and I lead tours of our roastery. So there's so much that I know about coffee that I didn't realize you could even know.
SPEAKER_00You started at Stone Creek like two years ago, but before that, did you do anything in coffee?
SPEAKER_01So I hadn't worked in coffee until like during the pandemic, I was working at a hotel that had just opened up as a banquet server, and I saw that they had a cafe at the hotel, and I was just curious about coffee, so I asked if I could pick up some chips in the cafe. And so I started working with them for like three or four months. We didn't have very many customers during that time, so the whole time my co-worker was just teaching me herself what she knew about coffee. Yeah, and like I didn't understand like the science behind what she was telling me, but I tried my best to piece it together based off like her information. So like I spent that four months just like pouring lattes and things like that with no formal training.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah. I actually had a very similar start where I used to be a therapist and then I moved to Wyoming. My husband like was settled in Wyoming, so I'm like, okay, I have to go there. Um, and I wanted to just work in coffee, but I had no barista background. And I started working as a barista in a local grocery store, and I remember the manager was just like, Yeah, you do this and you do this, and then she's like, Okay, do your shift. And I must have been serving the worst coffee in the world, like just disgusting coffee, I'm sure of it.
SPEAKER_01So like I I'm really curious. Like, I know the like the latte was good, but like I don't know if the coffee was any good good for you.
SPEAKER_00I definitely can do latte. I was like just burning the crap out of milk and giving it to people, which is embarrassing now.
SPEAKER_01But that's she worked at one of the bigger cafes here in Milwaukee, but you know, because the the pandemic shut things down, she had to get like a temporary job. So, like, she she was trying to explain to me like the weighing the coffee and like pulling a good shot and stuff, but I just let her handle that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so good on her, yeah. Um so before that experience, do you have a coffee memory that like really sticks out maybe from your childhood or like your first time with coffee? Like, what's what's the thought? What's the memory that comes to your mind?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so I've been drinking coffee since I was like a baby, honestly. Like my family is Puerto Rican, so my mom would make um coffee using Cafe Bustello, which is like a really finely ground, like dark rose coffee, and she would use a colador, which is like almost it looks like a sock, like it's a piece of fabric that you put the coffee grounds in and you steep it in water, and like that's how you brew the coffee. So we'd be drinking super strong bitter coffee, but I'd always get like so much milk and sugar in mine. Yeah, and so I just have always been drinking coffee. I always remember my mom making it for me like that, and my favorite way to have it growing up was she would put a spoonful of peanut butter in my coffee. Oh my gosh, that sounds amazing, yeah. I know no one's tried it before, but like just literally some jiffy in drip coffee is like delicious. I feel like I have to try that. Do you make coffee like that for yourself now? I haven't in a long time, and I feel like if I have that, like I don't eat jiffy peanut butter anymore. I do like the you know, the natural peanut butter, and it's not the same. It has to be jetty, yeah. It has to be some of that like high fructose corn crew or peanut butter.
SPEAKER_00That's probably what's doing it. Growing up and drinking coffee and drinking like a very specific coffee drink, which is really cool. Also, is the texture like was it more of like a chewy texture for coffee? Yeah, it was like thick, yeah. But yeah, okay, I'm so curious now. I'm like, I need to try that. I'm at least gonna buy some jiffy and put it in my drip to see how close I can get. Um, but then like having that root in coffee and knowing that you were raised drinking it, was it just like a found love where it's just like a part of your life and something so close to your heart that made you want to continue to seek it out then after the banquet job?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so coffee was like a daily thing for me and my family. And like when I'd visit my family in Puerto Rico, they'd always ask, like, get us cafe, do you want coffee? Like every single family gathering involved coffee. So to me, it's like a community thing, like a gathering point. Same with cafes in general. I feel like it's like a major point of like just gathering and socializing and like relax and just hang out and enjoy a good food or beverage. Like, I just love that communal aspect of it.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I do too. It's something that makes me fall in love with coffee over and over again, is all the stories that are behind each cup of coffee. Yeah. Now that you're working for Stone Creek, what's your favorite coffee drink?
SPEAKER_01Um so I mentioned I started off drinking like very milky, sweet coffee, drip coffee. I've scaled down a little bit, so I always do like eight-ounce or smaller latte with I usually like oat milk and the caramel sauce here in like a little eight-ounce drink. So I always I'm always doing some sort of latte with flavor. Like I know a lot of people, as they get into coffee, enjoy like a black coffee or something, a V60. I'm still learning to appreciate those, but I love a sweet treat. I do too. I can't resist.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I love a V60, but I I only love it because I love seeing what other roasting companies are doing. Yes, and tasting like the pure coffee bean, yeah. And like what they're excited about. Like the ruby rush that's on downstairs is so good.
SPEAKER_01It's been super popular just between all baristas across the company. Like, we're loving that one. It's so good.
SPEAKER_00It's just so fruity, it's so fruity, but it has like a honey syrup mist to it that really lingers. It's really, really nice. But I think specialty drinks are also really important because it's another way for barista to show off what they're really excited about and different flavors that pair well. And it's exciting to see like what the coffee industry is doing with different specialty drinks now, too.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. I love all the seasonal syrups that we do at Stone Creek. Um last year I was all about the rosemary honey syrup. Yeah. And this year that apricot chamomile syrup, that's something that I've never had before at any coffee shop. So, like the apricot has that kind of like caramel note to it while being fruity. And like the chamomile just kind of like mellows it out a little bit. I just think it's so nice. I love how creative we get with our syrups here. Yeah, and you make them all in-house, right? Yeah, so we make a good number of them in-house in our bakery. Um, so like I always tell people like the simplicity of our syrups, it's literally like a simple syrup base with um like our lavender syrup, we steep real lavender buds in it, or vanilla bean paste in the vanilla syrup. Some of the other ones we use extracts for, um, but it's as like whole and simple as possible. That's so cool.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Is there team members that specialize in making those syrups in like the bakery, or is it like baristas and bakery members that work together to make them, or is it just like collaborative throughout the team?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so like everyone can share input for ideas that they want to see for the syrups, but the syrups are made by our bakers. So yeah, if you come into the bakery, a roll you can be assigned is syrups for the day, and you make like five different flavors that day. Well, do you smell really good afterwards? Yeah, and I I will say the peppermint syrup, making that one is kind of brutal because the peppermint is so strong, it like burns your eyes.
SPEAKER_00It's kind of crazy. I'm sure. I can only imagine when you're like wearing goggles that day. Yes.
SPEAKER_01I'm like, and it's funny because the syrup station is in the window of the bakery, so if someone walks by, like I'm just like crying. Yeah. And not because of anything, just my eyes are burning. It's all that peppermint. Yes. But our bakery leader, Hailey, she's like the the one who tests the syrup with the like latte flavors, like she'll test them in a latte and then like work with our leadership or an educator to kind of like hone in on specific flavors. But ultimately, like if one of my coworkers speaks up about a seasonal flavor that they want to see, they'll absolutely consider it and like test it out. That's so cool.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yes.
SPEAKER_00I feel like in the coffee world, everyone wears a lot of hats. You know what I mean? Like you do a little bit of this, you do a little bit of that. Yeah. Um, which piece of your job are you the most excited about?
SPEAKER_01Well, speaking of wearing multiple hats, like the the educator role is so multifaceted between like leading the tours, teaching public classes, training the baristas, teaching wholesale classes. So, like, there's so many elements to that. But my favorite part overall, like in like encompassing all of that, is that I get people's like undivided attention for a period of time, which is rare these days, you know. Everyone's on their phone. Like, I genuinely have people's attention for two hours, they're listening to what I say, they're hands-on with me, like they're not distracted by the outside world. Like, we're we're like very like mindful of our time together. Because this is this two hours is what we have to learn all that we can. So I think that's really special that I get that every weekend with people.
SPEAKER_00I think that's really special, and I think you put it in such a good way because I didn't even really think about it. But having people that are so excited about learn about Stone Creek, but also about coffee and the way that you educate about coffee where it's just really bite-sized and you can understand it so quickly, there was just like full attention the whole time. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01You know what I mean? Yes. During the tour, like I have a group of up to 20 people just like listening to what I have to share about coffee, and it it feels special. Like, I don't take it for granted.
SPEAKER_00Is there a piece when you were learning about coffee, or maybe like during the tour that people learn about coffee that always stands out, or is like a core memory of something that really surprised you or shocked you?
SPEAKER_01Honestly, like the biggest thing about the coffee process that surprised me in general was like the fact that coffee's fermented. Like I did not know that, and I mentioned it in my tour that that's something that I didn't know until teaching the tours, because you don't realize how in-depth the process is at the coffee farm before it even comes to us to roast. So that's the thing that like surprised me the most. Otherwise, I just really love hearing people's like like what people's questions that they ask on the tour, the way that their minds work and like the way they frame things and like the processes that they're thinking about. Sometimes there are things that I don't even consider. Like, someone asked me today about like shipping, importing the coffee, like which port does the coffee come into. Like, I haven't even thought about that element of the process, but he probably has a different like mindset or different frame of reference in all of this where he's thinking about logistics in coffee and stuff like that. So I just really like hearing people like sharing their viewpoint like that. Yeah, so we're roasting coffee. Um, I say on my tour we do a roast cycle every 15 minutes, eight hours a day, five days a week. So that's easily over 10,000 pounds of coffee that we're roasting every week. How many people roast for Stone Creek? We have two main roasters, and then there's a barista that showed interest in wanting to learn how to roast, so they trained him up. So now on Fridays he roasts.
SPEAKER_00Oh, cool. Yeah. Do you feel like you see that in Stone Creek where they continue to promote people within and people that are excited about coffee keep growing with the company?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, absolutely. That's kind of where I got where I am today. Like I we have um like three or four times a year, we have check ins with our management, and we talk about setting goals in the company. So, how do you want to grow as a person? How do you want to grow within Stone Creek? So, in my meetings, when I started in the bakery, I was expressing interest in wanting to learn more about coffee and being a barista. And so eventually I became a barista. They like transferred me into the cafe. And after a couple months, I'm like, I want to grow and do more. Like, how do I take on more responsibility and like go more in depth in coffee? Because I really am passionate about food. I don't want to just do customer service, like I want to get more into it. And then when the educator position opened up, they knew that I had an interest in that kind of thing. So yeah, they reached out to me for it, which was awesome. Like I like that they they thought of me for a role like this because that means that they listen. Yeah. Yeah. And that they care.
SPEAKER_00Like that they want to bring their employees along and they want to grow their employees, which is really cool. Exactly. I feel like there's a lot of good green flags, if we will, about Stone Creek and how they treat just the producers they work with, the employees that they have here, the pride that they take in the products that they're creating. It's just very obvious. Yes. What do you think is the thing that you're most excited about with working at Stone Creek specifically?
SPEAKER_01So speaking of like what you just said, like one of the biggest things that I feel like one of the biggest ways that I've grown here at Stone Creek is there's one of our core commitments is to speak up. In other words, advocate for yourself. Like if you want something, let it be known. And that's a way that I've grown since I've been here. Like I used to be timid and like afraid to say what I want, but this company encourages that, and like you get what you want if you speak up for it, which is awesome. And it's showing, I think, the fact that I speak up and I I see change happening when I use my voice. It's like a powerful message that I'm learning through this company.
SPEAKER_00What's something that you're really excited about, or something that you're interested in that's happening in the coffee world right now?
SPEAKER_01I'm really fascinated with latte art, to be honest. Like I am an like an artist at heart, so I love going to art museums. I love creating artwork and using like milk and espresso as a medium to create artwork. I love seeing like how much growth there's been in latte art. I love seeing latte art competitions. I was gonna ask if you've been to one or if you guys have them here at all. Yeah, so I have been to one that was hosted by another cafe that's like a public competition, and that was really fun. And then we host them here at Stone Creek as well, but they're close to the just the company. I find that like the energy in the competitions is just so exciting. It feels like you're actually like at a sports game or something, like the way people are so like enthralled in the results. Actually, pouring the latte, like it's very nerve-wracking because it just feels like there's so much pressure on you, but you're just pouring a drink, like just showing what you got. So it's like it's high energy and it's not serious, like everyone's having fun with it, which is great.
SPEAKER_00What do you think as you grow as a coffee person, where do you hope to see yourself?
SPEAKER_01So I've always had aspirations to open a cafe or bakery. Yeah, so it's something I've wanted to do since high school, but I was like kind of scared to go into it. So I did other things in college and I pursued other career paths. But now that I'm in coffee where I am now, like I worked at the bakery, I feel like I have a pretty well-rounded depth of knowledge, even with my career that I went into, like I did marketing and public relations, so I feel like I have like a pretty like full scope of like how to make that business happen now throughout all of this experience that I've had. So yeah, I would just love to open a bakery cafe, and like with a huge focus on quality, like I care a lot about the integrity of ingredients and the quality of what I produce. I feel like a lot of bakeries you see like have great bakery, but the coffee is not great, or cafes have great coffee but the bakery is not great. And I'm I feel confident that I could do both.
SPEAKER_00I think that's always something that's really disappointing if you sit down somewhere and you see like either your latte comes out and it's perfect, and then the bakery is like, oh yeah, you know, or vice versa, especially as someone that's like a bit of a coffee snob when I have this like amazing delicious pastry, and then the coffee comes and it's like oh like whatever.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. It's disappointing. Um and I just love knowing the craft behind both and like standing what makes both special. And that's I feel like that translated for me when I went from baking to coffee, is like how technical each of those are. Baking, you're using like skills, you're measuring things, there's precision. The same things apply to coffee. So it was super easy for me to translate that interest as I became a barista.
SPEAKER_00What do you think you would want your customer to know about you as a barista?
SPEAKER_01Just like that I that I care, you know, like I hope that what I produce shows the integrity that I have. Like I put effort into what I create and love into it. Um, there's passion behind what I do, you know. Like I just I don't do anything mindlessly. I I try to be very like careful to make something right. Because ultimately, when I go to a cafe, I'm usually there for like a pick-me-up or something to make me feel better. I know this drink that I'm giving them is hopefully gonna make them feel better. So, like I I do it with that intention. I want this to make their day better. I I consider myself like an empath, so like I I translate like what I want in the experience, like I translate that to what I'm giving in the experience.
SPEAKER_00Huge thank you to Crystaline for spending some time with us today. Learning more about your story and the way that you view coffee has definitely brought another soft spot in my heart for people in the industry. It's incredible just to think that any barista really could have the mindset of just trying to make my day a little better with every cup, and that dreams live throughout the industry left and right. Again, I'm so appreciative. I hope today this episode made your day a little bit better. And next week we'll have some more fun stuff coming up in the sidecar. So thank you for being here. Again, it just means the world to me in so many ways, and I'll catch up with you soon. Have a good day.
